There have been several methods of hydrogen extraction from cellulose (C6H10O5). One of the methods is focused on using microbial bugs along with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and a catalyst to cause a reaction that releases the hydrogen in cellulose and captures the carbon in cellulose as sodium carbonate (Na2CO3). There is still a remaining need for developing a simpler and cost effective way of generating hydrogen gas from all C—O—H compounds found in cellulosic biomass more generally, and in a fashion that allows efficient use of the resulting hydrogen for use on-site, for purification, packaging, and distribution or for power generation from the reaction-product hydrogen gas using a reciprocating engine, turbine, or fuel cell.
While various cellulosic biomass hydrogen extraction techniques exist in the art, there is still a general need for the development of alternative techniques that may be cost effective, energy efficient and useful for applications using hydrogen, including hydrogen on demand, and conversion to a hydrogen-rich gas stream that can be directly combusted to produce power and heat. Heat and power applications from efficiently generated hydrogen rather than fossil fuels are useful for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of other applications that require heat or power, including the production of liquid biofuels. This need may be driven at least in part by the wide variety of applications that make use of hydrogen, some of which have significantly different operation considerations than others. Hydrogen, produced on demand, available for use on the site at which it is generated and therefore that does not require extensive infrastructure for its transportation, and produced at atmospheric pressure and lower temperatures than exist in the prior art, would satisfy that need.
Furthermore, extensive work has been done on conversion of cellulose, which is one example of a C—O—H compound, into ethanol (molecular formula: C2H5OH). Ethanol is known as drinking alcohol found in beverages. Ethanol is a flammable solvent and miscible with water and many organic solvents. The largest use of ethanol is as a motor fuel and fuel additive. In the United States, ethanol is most commonly blended with gasoline as a 10% ethanol blend. This blend is widely sold throughout the U.S. Midwest, and in cities required by the 1990 Clean Air Act to oxygenate their gasoline during wintertime. The energy returned on energy invested for ethanol made from corn in the U.S. is 1.34. This means that it yields 34% more energy than it takes to produce it. While various techniques thus exist in the art for making liquid fuel from C—O—H compounds, there is still a general need for the development of alternative techniques to generate liquid fuel.
In addition, cellulose may be converted to ethanol and some for producing bio-oil. Some techniques may utilize enzymes to convert the cellulose to ethanol. Some techniques may involve the use of synthesis gas from cellulose that is then converted to ethanol using the Fisher-Tropsch method. These techniques have been largely uneconomical. Fast pyrolysis may be used to make bio-oil in some cases. However, the bio-oil is generally not adequate for utilization as produced. While various techniques thus exist in the art for making bio-oil, compounds, there is still a general need for the development of alternative techniques to generate bio-oil and in particular for techniques for generating liquid fuels, such as diesel, from bio-oil using biomass.